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This paper analyses the interrelations between academic disciplines and society beyond academia by the case of sociology in Norway. For that purpose, this paper introduces the concept of disciplines' societal territories, which refer to bounded societal spaces that are shaped by the knowledge of a discipline, premised on the linkages between the discipline and its audience. By mapping sociologists' reported contributions to societal changes beyond academia, the paper firstly shows how societal territories are established by sociologists' recurring engagement with certain topics and research users. Secondly, it traces the interactions between researchers and their users, and identifies four ideal typical pathways by which the cognitive territory of Norwegian sociology is transformed into societal territories. A key observation is that the establishment of societal territories is co-determined by the structures of research use among its audience. As for the case of sociology in Norway, questions therefore arise over the interdependency between sociologists as knowledge 'suppliers' and the 'demand side' for research, and the autonomy of the sociological discipline in selecting its focus of attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managerialism in higher education has gained prominence in recent decades. One of the crucial elements of this approach is the steering of the higher education sector, including the introduction of multiple forms of evaluation of academic work. Little is known about how academics evaluate themselves in comparison to their colleagues. Therefore, the focus of this paper is on how academics evaluate their own performance in teaching and research. The article uses survey data (2014–2015) from Norway, Finland and Sweden. Professors’ and associate professors’ answers were considered. Our research relies on social-cognitive theory to develop a set of hypothesis. The empirical findings show that academics are likely to perceive their own and their unit’s research performance as higher when compared to that of their peers and similar units. Associate professors consider themselves to be more performative in teaching, whilst professors highlight their research performance. Finally, the gender differences were found to be minimal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the impact of job resources on academic productivity measured by publication and credit points in 53 departments in one large Norwegian university. The theoretical framework is the so-called conservation of resources theory. The resources data came from the so-called ARK Intervention Program. The results showed that engagement and administrative and technical support for research and teaching stimulated research publications but had adverse effects on credit points from teaching, thus also contributing to the research-teaching nexus debate. To avoid adverse trade-offs between research and teaching, and to gain further positive effects on research productivity, targeted means and reward structures seem important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is increasing attention toward students' satisfaction and how they perceive the quality of the program they attend. This study examined stability and change across time with regard to the relationships between learning environment factors and occupational therapy students' satisfaction with the program. In the two consecutive cross-sectional analyses performed in this study, 163 second-year students and 193 third-year students from all six occupational therapy education programs in Norway participated. The Course Experience Questionnaire was used to assess learning environment factors and study satisfaction. The data were analyzed with Pearson's correlation coefficient r and with hierarchical linear regression. Bivariate associations between the learning environment scales were positive and most associations were statistically significant in both study years. Relatively stable associations between the learning environment variable "good teaching" and higher study satisfaction were detected, while other associations differed between years of study. Embedding quality into the learning process, in particular by emphasizing good teaching and the clear dissemination of goals and standards, is important for student satisfaction throughout years of study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The aim of the present paper is to present and validate a Knowledge-Intensive Work Environment Survey Target (KIWEST), a questionnaire developed for assessing the psychosocial factors among people in knowledge-intensive work environments. Methods: The construct validity and reliability of the measurement model where tested on a representative sample of 3066 academic and administrative staff working at one of the largest universities in Norway. Results: Confirmatory factor analysis provided initial support for the convergent validity and internal consistency of the 30 construct KIWEST measurement model. However, discriminant validity tests indicated that some of the constructs might overlap to some degree. Conclusion: Overall, the KIWEST measure showed promising psychometric properties as a psychosocial work environment measure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Which gender equality measures do Nordic universities use, and to what extent are the measures effective in increasing the share of women in top academic positions? Based on theories that distinguish between actor and structure-oriented measures, and between strategies of inclusion and transformation, we identified four types of measures: career enhancing measures offered for women, training and awareness-raising measures, organizational responsibility measures and preferential treatment measures. We investigated the use and efficacy of the four types of policy measures in 37 universities in Sweden, Norway and Finland, implemented between 1995 and 2018. The policy data was collected through on structured interviews with universities' HR staff and equality officers. By combining these unique survey data and register data on universities' teaching and research staff we assess the impact of institutional gender equality policy on the gender composition of academics in grade A positions. We find strong growth in the use of organizational responsibility and awareness-raising measures over time, and weaker use of career enhancing measures and preferential treatment. Overall, the institutional measures have a limited effect on the growth in the share of women in grade A positions. Nonetheless, we find that the implementation of structural measures is associated with the growth of women in grade A positions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we present the background and process of the building of a traditional South Saami derhvie-gåetie (turf hut) on Nord University's campus in Levanger, Norway. The turf hut project is linked to the university's teacher education programs in which traditional Saami knowledge is part of the curriculum. In what way can the gåetie be a cradle for ways of knowing, creating, and learning, based on South Saami traditional knowledge? The article is a discussion of the scope and experiences of the turf hut project as land-based experiential learning in an Indigenous knowledge context and how the cooperation with South Saami tradition bearers is paramount for its outcome. As we see it, the project is a step toward the indigenization of the university's teacher education programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simulation-based learning (SBL) is becoming an accepted part of health education. Providing high-quality simulation-based education depends more on skilled facilitators than on elaborate simulator equipment. In the last six years, a cross-professional facilitator course has been developed to train interprofessional staff and faculty from health educational institutions in Bergen. The course starts with two days of traditional simulation theory and practice followed by a third day five weeks later. During the third day, participants present their own experiences from practising as facilitators in their own workplaces. In this paper, we present the course content and the participants' evaluation of the course based on the qualitative content analysis of their answers to open-ended questions. The main findings were that the course format and primary focus on practice were appreciated and that the follow-up day was especially useful to broaden the learning experience. • Facilitator training programmes are in demand, both in hospitals and university colleges. • Training health professionals together with health educators is fruitful. • Assignment where participant must plan, deliver, and evaluate in situ simulation promotes self-confidence as facilitator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article informs that radiologist and professor Arnulf Skjennald is retiring from the post of chief editor of the jounral "Acta Radiologica" after serving for 28 years.

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The objective of this study is to examine factors that can explain teachers' use of assistive listening devices in inclusive schools for pupils with hearing loss (HL). Assistive listening devices, such as teacher-microphones and pupil-microphones, can ensure an enhanced listening environment for such pupils and thus induce a higher level of participation in the teaching. The study included 167 teachers of pupils with HL in fifth through tenth grades. The analyses indicated that factors related to the teachers, pupils, parents and technology influenced the teachers' use of microphones. Teachers with positive attitudes toward the microphones tend to integrate them regularly in classroom communications compared with teachers who are negatively inclined. Frequent use of the microphones also occurred if pupils had severe HL. Furthermore, parents who tend to be highly involved in the children's school performance indirectly affected the teachers' microphone use. Additionally, frequent use of pupil-microphones seems to be dependent of the number of microphones; a high-density of microphones promoted their use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]